Recorded at MGM Recording Studio, Los Angeles, California on December 2, 1974. Includes liner notes by Benny Green and Norman Granz.

Producer Norman Granz occasionally got carried away with the quantity of his recording projects. In 1974 he recorded a full album teaming fellow pianists Count Basie and Oscar Peterson in a rhythm quintet; little did anyone realize that this then-unique matchup would eventually result in five albums. This first one, which finds Basie doubling on organ, is among the best. Peterson's virtuosic style somehow worked very well with Basie's sparse playing and these ten numbers really swing.

This wonderful session pairs two of the titans of jazz piano in a wonderfully laid-back journey into blues, swing, and ivory-tickling conversation. While the playing styles of Oscar Peterson and Count Basie are markedly different-with Basie's spare, perfectly rendered rhythmic bursts lending sweet contrast to Peterson's long, mellifluous phrases-they blend, spar, and play off of each other with exceptional ease.

At times, Peterson's bop-inflected vocabulary comes to the fore, as on the insistent interplay of "Burning" and the cool, fluid swing of "Lester Leaps In." Basie never sounds out of context, however. On the contrary, his stride origins and deceptively simple approach weave and punctuate Peterson's work with a thoroughly modern feel. The leisurely stroll of "The Foolish Things" and the ragtime-influenced jam of "Big Stockings" prove both pianists masters of versatility and expression. Flawless support from drummer Louie Bellson, bassist Ray Brown, and long-time Basie guitarist Freddie Green help make this meeting a keeper.